This invention relates to apparatus for applying electrical stimuli to living tissue, or for transferring electrical energy from living tissue, for diagnostic purposes. In addition, the invention relates to apparatus for transferring electrical energy from living tissue to measuring, display and recording equipment used in operating rooms or physicians' offices.
In certain medical procedures, it is useful or desirable to apply electrical energy to tissues of the body. For example, in connection with copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 452,119, filed Dec. 22, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,753 "Apparatus And Method For Stimulating Penile Erectile Tissue", assigned to the assignee of the present application, the suitability of a particular candidate for use of the apparatus disclosed therein may be determined by palpating the prostate gland, and applying electrical energy to that gland so as to simulate the action of the apparatus. Similarly, the locations of critical regions or spots on the prostate gland can be determined by applying electrical energy to the prostate gland from a signal generator via the apparatus to the living tissue. The regions or spots at which a desired reaction, in that instance incipient erection, is stimulated, can thus be identified. Further, in connection with the above application, topical application of electrical energy to the anal area is desirable to induce contraction of the musculature of the rectum as an aid to intimately fitting a device to the rectal cavity.
Certain other diagnostic procedures involve the transference of electrical energy from tissues to recording devices. In cardiology, for example, in cardiac mapping, low voltages produced by the heart are sensed and transferred to recording or display devices.
Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 452 319, filed Dec. 22, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,939 for "Means For Transferring Electrical Energy To And From Living Tissue", assigned to the assignee of the present application, discloses apparatus for the present purpose, in which individual electrodes are affixed to fingers and the thumb of a glove of flexible fluid impervious elastomeric material. With such apparatus, the glove may be used for digital palpation, and the electrodes precisely positioned with respect to palpated spots. The present invention is an improved and more effective apparatus of the same general type, but in which the electrodes are more advantageously and efficaciously placed, and in which the conjunction of the thumb and a finger is not essential to operation.
Other advantages of the present apparatus will appear hereinafter.
The objects of the present invention are realized, in a presently preferred form of the apparatus, by mounting on a glove of natural or synthetic rubber or rubber-like elastomeric material, electrodes for applying energy to the tissues or for receiving energy from them. Also mounted on the glove, and preferably integrally formed with the electrodes, are electrical conductors connecting the electrodes to an electrical connector, which serves to couple the apparatus to a source of electrical energy or to amplifying or display devices. The source of electrical energy may be a signal generating circuit or simply a source of electrical potential, as the application may require. The electrodes and associated conductors are, in the presently preferred form of the apparatus, applied to a single finger of the glove, and are flexible so as not to impede the normal flexibility of the glove or to render the glove less useful for normal palpation than conventional surgical gloves. The electrodes are spaced from each other in such a fashion that the application of finger pressure during palpation places the electrodes in intimate contact with the palpated tissues, and establishes a circuit between the electrodes, through the palpated tissues.
There are seen in the drawings forms of the invention which are presently preferred (and which present the best mode contemplated for carrying the invention into effect), but it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.